Translating Polish poetry into Arabic is as big of a challenge as translating Arabic poetry into Polish. You have to not only preserve the meaning of the words but also the message embedded in them, and, most importantly, the rhythm of the verse. But challenges are meant to be taken on. The prominent Iraqi poet Hatif Janabi, who has been living in Poland for half a century, did just that. In March 2021, he published a monumental work in Baghdad-Beirut’s Dar al Mada publishing house titled “Five Centuries of Polish Poetry from Kochanowski to 2020.” Across 912 pages, he included over 400 poems by 65 Polish poets, both male and female, in chronological order. Janabi had previously translated works by writers and poets such as Adam Mickiewicz, Czesław Miłosz, Wisława Szymborska, Juliusz Słowacki, Zbigniew Herbert, Tadeusz Różewicz, Stanisław Lem, Stanisław Grochowiak, Adam Zagajewski, Edward Stachura, Rafał Wojaczek, Ryszard Kapuściński, Olga Tokarczuk, and Leszek Kołakowski.

It’s long been known how much Iraqis love literature. An old Arabic saying goes that in Cairo, one writes; in Beirut, one prints; and in Baghdad, one reads. But it was on the banks of the Tigris that the works of giants of Arabic literature like Mutanabbi and Abu Nuwas were created. Mutanabbi lived in a time when on the Vistula no literary works had been created yet, and Poland was just being established under its first Christian ruler, Mieszko I. Nine hundred years later, Poland’s most distinguished poet, Adam Mickiewicz, enchanted by the beauty of the Iraqi poet’s work—which he could access mainly through French translations—wrote the poem “Almutanabbi” based on one of his qasidas. Mickiewicz’s poem is not so much a literal translation as it is a brilliant paraphrase and an identification with the Arab master’s attitude—proud and exuding Bedouin courage, and thus so perfectly suited to the spirit of 19th-century European Romanticism.

Everyone in Poland also knows the tales of “One Thousand and One Nights,” though unfortunately not everyone realizes their great connection to Iraq. Prominent Polish Arabists, such as Professor Józef Bielawski, author of the book “Classical Arabic Literature,” and Professor Janusz Danecki, have undertaken the translation and popularization of both classical and contemporary Iraqi literature. In 1977, a special issue of the magazine “Literatura na świecie” (Literature in the World) was dedicated to Arabic literature, and specifically to Iraqi literature.

The Iraq of War in Polish Literature and Film

The difficult experiences of Iraq over the last few decades have led to the country being associated in Poland with war. This has also resulted in motifs related to Iraq in Polish literature and cinema being primarily linked to war, with most works from the last dozen years or so being non-fiction. The most prominent Polish translation of contemporary Iraqi literature in recent years is Ahmed Saadawi’s book “Frankenstein in Baghdad,” published in Poland in 2018. The story is placed in  Baghdad during the turbulent times of the occupation after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

A Polish author who cannot be overlooked when describing Iraqi themes in contemporary Polish literature is Marcin Faliński, a former diplomat and retired colonel of Polish intelligence. Faliński spent many years in Iraq, including during the war with Daesh. But the inspiration for his first book came from events during another war: World War II. After all, during that time, the Polish army, evacuated from the USSR, passed through Iraq on its way to Europe to fight Nazi Germany. The spy trilogy, co-written by him and Marek Kozubal in 2019, is set in several time dimensions, primarily during World War II and the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century. In the first dimension, the main character is a Polish soldier and intelligence agent, Mieczysław Kleiner, who is on a mission to save Polish works of art threatened by German and Soviet looting. In the second dimension, the central character is Mayor Marcin Łodyna, a top Polish intelligence agent stationed in Iraq, who in the first part of the trilogy, the book “Operation Raphael,” tries to determine the fate of Raphael Santi’s painting “Portrait of a Young Man,” which disappeared during World War II. Łodyna, on his path, must contend with Russian agents operating in Iraq.

Faliński’s literary success led to more spy books by him, and a film adaptation of “Operation Raphael” is planned. It’s worth noting that the author masterfully portrays Iraqi realities, both from 80 years ago and today. His books are full of descriptions of Iraqi customs, cuisine, architecture, and nature. They allow the Polish reader to better understand this country. It’s also worth mentioning two Polish war films set in Iraq. The film “Operation Samum” was shot in 1999 by Polish director Władysław Pasikowski and tells the story of one of Poland’s secret missions in Iraq, which took place in 1990. The film “Karbala,” directed by Krzysztof Łukaszewicz, is set during the Iraqi civil war after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. The latter film was made in 2015 based on the war reportage of Marcin Górka and Adam Zadworny and the autobiographical book by Grzegorz Kaliciak.

War Correspondents and Cultural Exchange

Poland is known for its literary tradition of war reportage. Ryszard Kapuściński gained worldwide fame in the 20th century. It’s therefore not surprising that several books of this type were written about the fall of Saddam Hussein, the occupation, the civil war, and finally the war with Daesh. The distinguished Polish reporter Paweł Smoleński dedicated two of his books to Iraq. The first, “Iraq, a Hell in Paradise,” was published in 2004, just after Saddam’s overthrow, and showed both the realities of the beginning of the occupation and the dictator’s bloody reign. The second, written in 2016, “Green Almonds, or What the World Needs Kurds For,” transported the Polish reader to Iraqi Kurdistan. It is also worth mentioning the book by the well-known Polish journalist Piotr Kraśko, “Iraq at War,” which was published in 2012, and the book “The New, Wonderful Iraq” by war reporter Mariusz Zawadzki from the same year. In 2008, the prominent Polish diplomat Roman Chałaczkiewicz, who was ambassador to Iraq from 1997 to 2002, wrote the book “Twilight of the Dictator. Iraq in My Eyes,” which offers a priceless perspective on the last years of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship.

In 2014, after the Daesh attack on Mosul, when a wave of opinion swept through the global media that Iraq was a failed state and faced an inevitable breakup, Witold Repetowicz decided to debunk this negative image of Iraq. His book, “Allah Akbar, War and Peace in Iraq,” was based on his personal experiences as a war reporter, as well as on travels and conversations he had during that time in parts of Iraq not affected by the war. Hence the mention of “peace” in the book’s title. This book is therefore more than just war reportage, although it also includes accounts of the fighting conducted by all Iraqi forces against Daesh and interviews with refugees. The book provides a broader historical, political, and social background, accompanied by descriptions of Baghdad, Najaf, Karbala, Anbar, Nineveh, and Kurdistan, among other places. Repetowicz had previously published the book “My Name Is Kurdistan,” in which he devoted a significant portion to the customs and history of the Iraqi Kurds.

Cultural cooperation between Poland and Iraq is not limited to literature. Artists from Iraq have visited Poland on numerous occasions, and Polish artists have performed in Iraq. For example, in October 2010, the Lemko Song and Dance Ensemble “Kyczera” from Legnica performed at a festival in Kurdish Sulaymaniyah, and a Kurdish ensemble had arrived for a festival in Legnica a little earlier. Exhibitions dedicated to the culture of Iraqi Kurds are also regularly held in Poland. This direction should be deepened, as both Poland and Iraq have extremely rich cultures, and getting to know them will broaden the horizons of both societies and contribute to greater mutual understanding.